Pride and Determination
by CyberianTsuinami
Summary: My version of femShep and Thane's romance. Rated high just in case. This is  hopefully  a more condensed version of my story Confessions of a Shattered Heart, which I hope to have up here someday.
1. First Impressions

First of all, I do want to inform you of some liberties I am taking with this Shepard. She's got a Colonist background and all three Psychological Profiles (Sole Survivor, War Hero, and Ruthless). If you're uncomfortable with this, feel free to stop reading now.

Secondly, I want to say that, although the Mass Effect series is awesome, I sadly do not own it or any of my characters. Wish I did so I could find a cure for Thane, but I don't so I'll just have to be like the rest of you and pray there is a cure in ME3.

Lastly, I want to say thank you to anyone still currently reading, and I hope you enjoy my story.

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><p>If someone had told him years ago that the infamous Commander Shepard would hunt him down, he would have told her to try her best, and yet, here she was standing in front of him blonde hair, blue eyes, and all. He had been shocked when he had seen her bust into the towers and quickly dispatched the mechs guarding the entrance. At first, he just thought that she was nothing more than a hired merc, and it annoyed him that his target could be taken from him by someone that had no training in the art of assassination. He admitted (if only to himself) that she and her team were rather good at taking out mercs; she kept up with him with ease. This had annoyed him to no end at the time.<p>

When he got to Nassana's office, she was right behind him, and he was sure that she would take the shot before he got the chance. He was trying his best to stew in silence in the vent above his target when Nassana had declared who the woman was. Even as he replayed the moment over and over, he didn't believe it. Out of everyone in the huge galaxy that could have been trying to locate him, it had to be Commander Shepard, Hero of the Citadel, First Human Spectre, who had died two years earlier when her ship had been attacked. She apparently had done some work for Nassana earlier, which almost shocked him more than her standing there.

It took him several moments to realize that she was distracting Nassana for him, giving him the chance to make his move. It confused him. The Commander he had heard so much about didn't seem like the type that would condone an assassination. She was supposed to be this inspiring story about a Human surviving impossible odds and horrific events and not letting them change her. She was suppose to be this ideal, an ideal that wouldn't condone his lifestyle. He was intrigued so he dropped from the ceiling and made his kill as quickly and as efficiently as he could. He gave her a show.

Then he tempted her. He bowed his head to pray just like he always did. He said all of his prayers and then waited for her to get impatient. She didn't, but the Turian and Krogan at her back did. When he finally looked up, she was smirking. "I'm not one to interrupt prayers," she said in a voice that, even with its limited range, had a melody about it, but he pushed that thought quickly away, "but I'm rather sure she doesn't deserve them."

"They are not for her," he replied and watched her reactions like a hawk. She simply raised an eyebrow; he didn't know Human facial expressions well, but this one seemed to him like it was a question. _Then who? _It seemed to say. "They are for me." She simply nodded her head as if she understood, but he didn't think that she did. Besides, he wanted to figure her out; he wanted to push her buttons. She was so still, and she was a blank canvas of neutrality. So he walked around the desk trailing his fingers over it. "A measure of an individual can be difficult to ascertain. Take you for instance," he said with a wave of his hand. He was surprised that she seemed so relaxed. She just stood there with her arms crossed with no hint of reaching for her weapon and no hint of a desire to, but her teammates kept their weapons trained on him. She either had complete faith in their skill or had far too much pride in herself. "All this death and destruction. I wondered how far you would go to find me; well, here I am."

Her eyes stayed neutral as did her tone. "How did you know I was even coming?"

"I didn't," he admitted walking past her and knocking into her as he did so. She moved slighting; with her armor, she was almost like a brick wall. But he did catch the fleeting presence of biotics on her hands as they knocked her arms lose. So that had been her plan; he was almost impressed, almost. "Not until you walked in the front door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force; she believed that one of her sisters would kill her."

She smirked. "Knowing that family, I wouldn't be surprised."

He turned to look at her face. She still seemed pleasantly smug. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes that annoyed him. 'Could she take anything seriously?' he wondered. They were talking about a dead woman after all. She might not have been the best person, but she was a person and deserved respect. She just treated her like an unending butt of a joke. He said his next words just to crush her flippancy a bit. "You were a valuable distraction."

Her smirk faltered for a moment, and that was the extent of his victory of words over her. "You used me to get to her..." she said with a sour note on her voice before the smirk returned. "Smart boy."

'Now she thought she could demean him as well?' he thought, holding back his rage only because he had trained so long to control his emotions. Surely this woman's purpose was not solely to mess with his head. "I needed a distraction; you needed to speak with me," he said tersely, and he knew that he had allowed the woman her victory when she motioned for her teammates to put away their weapons. He collected himself quickly so as to not give her the satisfaction she looked for again. "You certainly fulfilled your end of the bargain. What would you care to discuss?"

"The collectors are abducting entire Human colonies, and I'm recruiting a team to teach them why that's a bad idea," she said looking at him expectantly. The Collectors, huh? Now there was a worthy opponent, and if they were abducting colonies, it would give him a chance to atone for the lives he couldn't save here today.

"Taking on the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay," he said catching her eye. He wanted to see her reaction to this. Would she be scared of the possibility of death? Based on her reaction, he would know if he wanted to join her endeavour or not. "No ship has ever returned from doing so."

She waved it off like it was nothing. "They said that it was impossible to get to Ilos too or to save Elysium. I'm good at suicide missions; I'll prove them wrong," she said surety shining in her eyes. Yes, this one had a lot of pride in her; perhaps as much as himself.

"A suicide mission," he said closing his eyes in consideration. Then she did know the odds she was facing, and she was facing them anyway. Her reputation for bravery and recklessness seemed to be true. "Yes, a suicide mission will do nicely." He turned towards the sunrise and looked up at it. It was almost the same color as Irikah's eyes; he wondered what she would think of this. "I will join your mission, Shepard," he said turning back to the woman in armor. With any luck, she would lead him to the sea and, from there, Irikah. The woman gave him a look as if to ask if he was sure. "Low survival odds doesn't concern me," he encouraged her. "The fate of your colonies does."

"Why would you want to save Human colonies?" she asked with a hint of anger. It was said that the Council had turned Shepard away many times simply because it was a 'Human' problem. He could understand her anger.

"They are innocent, correct?" he asked neutrally but turned back to the window. "I'm dying."

He could almost feel the woman jerk away from him in shock. He didn't think that it was disgust, but he could have been wrong. "How long do you have?" she asked as if she was truly concerned, then she shook her head as if to clear it. "Are you contagious?" she asked instead. Now that was a reasonable question.

"The problem is not contagious," he assured her, "and I should be fine for your mission. If you would like, we can discuss the details on your ship."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Krios," she said with a shake of her hand. "Now let's get the hell out of here before Illium law enforcement get here. I'll send Grunt with you to help you with your things," she said with a wave towards the Krogan.

"What!" the Krogan exclaimed in surprise and anger. Thane agreed with him.

"That is not necessary, Commander," he said with a bow. The suggestion might have been ridiculous, but she had been trying to be considerate. It would serve him well to be polite.

She levelled him with her eyes. "Once you join my crew, you go nowhere alone," she said levelly. "I have many enemies and so do many members of my crew. I will not risk the mission by allowing said enemies the chance to harm any of you. If you do not like it, then you are still welcome to walk away." And she waited. She spoke as if it was a reasonable choice, but he thought she was just being paranoid or refused to acknowledge his skills. He would not be caught unawares by simple mercenaries; he was insulted that she would imply such a thing. "Besides," she said turning her gaze at her Krogan companion, "young Grunt here decided that charging a Krogan Battlemaster and two Asari Commandos was a good idea earlier today. It would do him well to learn some patience."

He wanted to argue; he wanted to turn her offer down, but he could tell from the look on her face that he would not win. He could not join her crew and turn her down in this regard. Out of all the frustration today, this moment was more than all of them combined. So he consented despite the frustration. It seemed to him that his new employer was incredibly frustrating, and he wondered if the chance to redeem himself was really worth it.

* * *

><p>She would have been lying if she had said she didn't find the Drell attractive. Any woman with eyes could see that, but she could also see the confidence sliding off of him like waves. The Drell was over confident and most definitely proud. With all the different egos on the ship, she wondered how it hadn't sunk under the weight of them yet, and then he started to play around with his words in a way that insulted her. He implied that she enjoyed the killing and the destruction (which she had of course), but he was making it sound like it was an evil, something bad. She knew that her pride was probably one of the biggest on the ship, but it was the only one that really mattered so, every time he purposefully pushed her buttons, she pushed his right back.<p>

By the end if their conversation, she was pretty sure that she had effectively pushed him away and he would refuse simply to spite her. Instead he looked out the window and told her that he was dying. It had simply shocked her. It shocked her so much that she had asked questions on instinct rather than sharp thought. It had been so long since she had acted on instinct that it worried her, especially since the night before Ilos hadn't turned out all that well; the only thing that she had walked away with from Horizon was a shredded heart. The last thing she wanted right now was another man to drag her out of her comforting, logical mind and into another emotional entanglement. Those never went well; someone always ended up dead.

These thoughts plagued her all the way back to the ship, so much so that she allowed Garrus to drive. Despite the fact that he didn't have any combat or evasive driving training, he did rather well; she didn't feel the need to grab onto anything for the entire drive. Perhaps she would let him drive more often, at least, when there was an unlikely chance that they would need to dodge anything, gunfire or whatnot.

As he parked the car, he looked at her concerned. "What's up, Shepard? You're not acting like you usually do."

"Just thinking about Horizon," she lied to him with a smile so he would believe her. She moved to get out of the car, but he locked the doors.

"You're either going to talk to me or Chambers, Shepard," he said when she turned her most intimidating look at him. Being best friends with some of the crew seemed to have its downside after all; they knew that you wouldn't actually break their face in and toss them in the brig.

"Fine," she answered still rather pissed at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Kaidan really mess you up bad, huh?" he asked, but she seriously hoped that it was a rhetorical question since she had no intention of answering it. Thankfully he continued. "I wish I could get my hands on him for what he said to you; I still can't believe that he suggested that you had betrayed the Alliance."

"He's hurting, Garrus," she said closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat. This was the same argument that she'd been having with herself since she got back from the planet. "I left him and then showed up without any warning in Cerberus colors."

"You did the same thing to me, and I didn't label you a traitor or turn my back on you," Garrus reasoned back. It seemed he agreed with her angry side; she had said the same thing to herself.

"No, but you didn't really have many choices when I found you," she argued back. "It was either me and my questionable loyalties or death at the hands of several merc bands. Besides, you didn't love me or watched the ship go down in flames; survivor's guilt is one of the hardest emotional roller coasters to get over."

Something about what she had said hit Garrus hard since he was quiet for a moment before he unlocked the door and stepped out. They walked in quiet for a while, but there was definitely no peace in it. As they went to walk into the airlock though, Garrus turned to her. He had obviously just come up with something to say to her. "Even if you had showed up three days earlier, Shepard, when my team was alive and Sidonis hadn't betrayed me yet, I would still have come with you without a moment's hesitation."

This shocked her a bit. There was something in his gaze that caused her to shift uncomfortably. "Thanks, Garrus," she said with a smile and entered her ship. 'Great,' she thought, 'now I have more to think about.'

* * *

><p>She was standing in the conference room with Jacob, who seemed irritable for some reason. She didn't have time to ask him about it before Thane walked in after finishing his tour with Kelly. He wasn't strutting like he had been in Nassana's office; he didn't seem like he had any desire to test her, but she didn't really understand his facial expressions. He seemed to hide his emotions before they made it to his face. Something told her though that he was just tired and annoyed; perhaps she shouldn't have sent Grunt with him alone, especially after she pissed him off. She could only image the difficulty that Grunt had given him.<p>

"I've heard impressive stories, Krios. It sounds like you will be an asset to the team," Jacob said courteously then he turned to her. "That is, if you're comfortable having an assassin watch your back." This side of Jacob surprised her. She hadn't seen him as the prejudiced type, and out of everything, this was the one that had surprised her the most. It simply caught her completely off guard; she hadn't known what to say.

Thankfully, Krios did. "I have accepted a contract," he said simply. "My arm is Shepard's." She looked at him. Was it really that simple? All she had to do was wave around an impossible mission and she had her own personal assassin. If she had known that, she might have tried to get him to join her against Saren. The thought amused her. She wondered what he would have said to Wrex's favorite question, 'If you and the Commander got in a fight, who would win?' When that thought brought Kaidan's answer to her mind, she pushed the entire idea forcibly from her mind. Suddenly, she wasn't in the same good mood anymore.

"Uh huh," Jacob said crossing his arms in disapproval. Oh, this was getting so trying; surely he would let this go, right? She didn't need another Miranda/Jack fight going on. She rarely had time for herself with one; she couldn't handle two. "Unlike you, I'm loyal to more than my next paycheck."

Now there was an opening she could use to her advantage. "Obviously so is he, since he is doing this mission gratis," she said allowing her voice to carry a little of her frustration; perhaps it would chide him. "What's your concern?" She wanted this out in the air now, if possible. If they could come to terms with it quickly, she could continue her routine of checking up on everyone on the ship after every mission.

"I just don't like mercenaries," Jacob responded and actually lifted his nose in the air. "An assassin is just a precise mercenary." Okay, it might have been a little too simplistic, but she understood the thought. She was about to come back with another response when Krios spoke up again.

"An assassin is a weapon," he clarified. "A weapon does not chose to kill; the one who welds it does." He's still standing near the doorway; his hands behind his back. It seemed like his natural stance, his favorite stance. She thought that it seemed a bit forced, but she had to admit that it was easier to defend oneself from attack in this stance than her favorite with her arms crossed and her weight on her back leg. It didn't have the right air about it though. "Where shall I put my things?" he asked politely turning his gaze to her instead. "I would prefer someplace dry if anything is available."

'Someplace dry?' she thought annoyed. That was not something she noticed about a room. If he asked someplace warm, then she would have been able to advice him, but someplace dry? She had no idea; TGFE, thank God for EDI. '"The area near the life support plant on the crew deck tends to be slightly more arid than the rest of the ship," the computer answered popping her holoform into the room.

"Ah," she heard the assassin... exclaim wasn't exactly the right word, but the closest thing she could think of at the moment. "An AI? My thanks." So he decided to treat EDI like she was a person. Good, she wouldn't have to give him 'the talk' later. She was rather amused when Krios bowed to the room and turned to leave. She bowed her head in response but was unsure if he noticed. At least he was interesting.

"He seems quite civil," EDI pronounced before popping her holoform back out of the room. She agreed with the AI's assessment.

"We need all the help we can get," she said, keeping her harsher tone when she turned to face Jacob. "He's not what I expected in an assassin. He may surprise you."

"Yeah," Jacob answered, uncrossed his arms and headed out of the room, "and he may not." He didn't salute like he usually did. Something was definitely up; she would have to remember to have Kelly talk to him about this.

Before he was out of the room, she spoke up one last time. "I would be greatly disappointed, Jacob, if you were not able to get around this. I do not have the time for another Miranda and Jack on board my ship. Do I make myself clear?"

He turned to look at her, and she saw a twinge of anger in his eyes. He probably objected to the fact she was even giving him this lecture; he probably didn't think that he had done anything wrong and that she was being unfair by not talking to Krios as well. She would though. This was a two part problem, but the Drell needed time to settle in. She would go check up on him in a couple of hours. There were a couple of things that she wanted to discuss with him. "Perfectly, ma'am," he answered. "If he can keep civil, so can I."

'Good,' she thought as he left the room. She pinched the bridge of her nose to try to ward off the migraine that was building in her head. Perhaps she would take a nap before dinner. "Commander," she heard Joker say over the intercom, "Miranda and Jack are in the mess hall..."

"I'll be right there," she answered as she walked towards the elevator. Example one of why she didn't need a second Miranda/Jack.


	2. A Long Conversation

I want to take the time to thank everyone who has read the story and has decided to follow it despite the rough nature of the previous chapter. I also want to apologize for that. Even with the best beta in the world, things slip through. I believe that this chapter doesn't have the same issues, but something will always slip. I apologize in advance for anything out of place within this chapter.

I also want to express that I do not own anything from Mass Effect; that belongs solely to Bioware. Without further ado...

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><p>Several hours later, he was in the middle of meditating when someone walked into Life Support. "You got a moment?" he heard Shepard ask from just outside his range of vision. It seemed she walked quieter than most on this ship, with the exception of Kasumi; he didn't think she would since she wore combat boots.<p>

"Of course, Shepard," he said pulling himself forcibly from the memory he had been enjoying. "We haven't had the chance to talk since I joined." He turned back to stare at the drive core, and she remained standing just short of his range of vision. It was really starting to annoy him, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of turning his head. She was his employer; she would lead him to find redemption and likely death, but he didn't trust her.

"When we met, you said that you were dying," she said cautiously as if she was worried that she would upset him. He hated having these talks. Everyone always assumed that he would act irrationally about the idea of dying like he would break down crying or be angry that someone had brought it up.

"You need not worry about the rest of the crew," he answered her without looking at her or moving his hands away from where they were clasped in front of his throat. If she couldn't even move into his line of sight, then he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of allowing her a clear view of his face. "My disease isn't communicable, even to other Drell. It's called Kepral's syndrome."

"What exactly is the problem?" she asked, and he could hear something that reminded him of true concern coloring her voice. He didn't believe that she really cared. She needed him to fight for her; she needed him to help her defeat her enemy. She did not really care about him as a person; people were nothing more than resources to her, if what he understood about her was true.

Nonetheless, he answered, "My people are native to an arid environment, but most of us now live on Kahje, the Hanar homeworld. It is very humid there, and it rains everyday. Our lungs can't deal with the moisture. Over time, the tissue loses its ability to absorb oxygen. It becomes harder to breathe. Eventually, we suffocate." If she was going to give the imitation of being polite, then so would he.

Just out of the corner of his vision, he saw her jerk in surprise. "Then don't live on Kahje," she nearly exclaimed, "or use breathers."

He wanted to sigh in frustration. Why did she have to ask so many questions? She didn't really need to know any of this to make her mission successful. He had heard rumors about Human curiosity, but he didn't believe them until he had met her. "Drell have a close relationship with the Hanar. We rely on each other. The best we can do is keep our homes really dry inside."

She didn't seem to like that answer, but she took it anyway. At least, she wasn't trying to force him into saying his entire culture was wrong; despite the fact he got the impression that she thought so. "Is there at least something they can do about?" she asked instead.

It was an empty offer. No one could do anything about his disease; the Hanar had been trying for two Drell generations. Surely she wasn't so full of herself that she thought she could just pull a cure out of her hat; further more, why did she care? She only needed him for her mission; once that was over and if he was still alive, she would return to the Alliance, of that he had no doubt. She couldn't take this motley crew with her; most of them would go their separate ways, including him. "The Hanar have funded a genetic engineering program; they should be able to adapt us. But the project has only been going for a couple years, and I don't believe my body will still draw breathe by the time it bares fruit."

"Will you be alright until the end of the mission?" He thought he heard resignation in her voice like she was resigning to the fact that he would die and there was nothing she could do for him. He didn't understand it; why was she taking his inevitable death so far? It wasn't like she knew him.

"I should be fine for another eight to twelve months," he answered. It was probably a diagnosis a little too optimistic, but he hoped it would give her the reassurance to stop asking questions or, even worse, offering her help. He was dying; he refused to give himself false hope by even looking for a cure. It wasn't as if he deserved it anyway. To further dissuade her from continuing this conversation, he though he would make his point clear that he would be fine for the time that she needed him. "I think it's safe to say that by the time my body is incapacitated, we'll be victorious or dead. Either way, I won't be a burden to you."

"You would not be a burden," she said strongly enough that he couldn't help but look at her. There was a fire dancing behind her blue eyes; it seemed to him like a glare. What was wrong with this woman? She didn't know him; she shouldn't be so worked up over his illness. Was her reaction so strong because of some Human philosophy or cultural expectation? This was a thought he hadn't had before. Perhaps her reaction had less to do with her and more to do with her species. "You're part of my crew; if I can help you, Thane, then I will."

He chuckled at that thought though it was probably in a tone too low for her to hear. She really thought she could help him. "The matter is being attended to. If the greatest medical minds in the Hanar Illuminated Primacy can't solve the problem, I doubt that your ship's medic could."

"I wasn't suggesting Doctor Chackwas, though I don't for a minute doubt her abilities." He could hear from the tone of her voice that she was truly getting upset over this conversation, and he truly didn't understand why. "I was offering Mordin. If the Salarian can cure a plague designed by Collectors with only the resources of his clinic on Omega and figure out how to stop the Collector Swarms with an armor upgrade, then I think he should be able to, at least, slow the progression of your disease."

"It is not necessary," he answered politely. He had accepted his death a long time ago, and he wasn't about to go chasing after a cure like a Krogan. His death would come for him sooner or later; it may has well be sooner. He had no real reason to stay.

"HOW ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT DYING?" she suddenly burst out at him. Her strange orange scars got subtly deeper; he didn't understand why, but she seemed really upset by this. Perhaps the rumors of her death were true or, at least, true enough. Suddenly he realized that she was so upset about his acceptance of death because she had come so close to it and was now scared of it. It seemed too weak for the infamous Commander Shepard.

"You have the advantage there, Shepard," he said going off of his assumption. Perhaps by bringing her own death out in the open, he could get her to let the conversation go. "You have already died. Perhaps later you can give me some suggestions. I can do nothing to alter my fate. One advantage of my training is that I've always, to some degree, considered myself dead. Trust me. This won't affect my performance."

He heard Shepard give a low rumble behind him in annoyance and disapproval. It was so quiet that, if she hadn't been standing so close or his species didn't have such good hearing, he would never have heard it. "Fine," she pushed the word out of her mouth, trying her best to throw it at him like a dagger. He wasn't so easily hurt by petty words; he was an assassin, trained by the Hanar since he was six. If she wished to hurt him, she would need to do much better than that. "I actually came down here for a reason," she said moving into his line of sight at last, but she didn't sit in the chair opposite him. Instead, she moved to lean against the window that allowed him a view of the engine and crossed her arms. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier with Jacob."

"Ah, yes," he said allowing the memory to play in full in his mind.

_He walked into the Conference room after his quick tour with Shepard's personal assistant to see a serene Commander Shepard in a medic's uniform and a dark skinned Human male beside her. This had to be the Mr. Taylor that Miss Chambers had mentioned during his tour of the armory._

_"I've heard impressive stories, Krios. It sounds like you will be an asset to the team," Jacob said courteously then he turned to the Commander. "That is, if you're comfortable having an assassin watch your back." Though he was surprised to get such a welcome from someone who had just complemented him, he was not surprised by the comment itself. Most people looked down upon him because of his profession. It was a prejudice that he had learned to deal with, though he did wonder why this man was leaning towards it as well. He had been hired to take down Cerberus operatives on a few occasions; he knew the organization's dark reputation and had seen it in action a few times. Surely Mr. Taylor's source of income was no less objectionable as his own._

_"I have accepted a contract," he said simply. "My arm is Shepard's." He looked at the Commander. She just smiled mysteriously but in a far off way as if whatever she was thinking was amusing. Then suddenly, her face changed to an absolute frown; whatever memory she had remembered put a bad taste in her mouth. She was thoroughly back in the conversation now, but her new sour mood had been brought into it as well. He turned his attention back to the man._

_"Uh huh," Jacob said crossing his arms in disapproval. He wondered why this man had such an issue with him. Perhaps he had killed one of his friends or family; he would have to set aside some time to go back into his memory to see if he had seen this man before. "Unlike you, I'm loyal to more than my next paycheck."_

_He was about to point out that he wasn't being paid for this mission, and not all of his contracts were done because he was paid, but she spoke up first. "Obviously so is he, since he is doing this mission gratis," she said, her voice carrying frustration. He didn't understand were the frustration was coming from, but if he had to guess, he attributed it to the memory she had before. "What's your concern?" She wanted his opinion, and he was just as interested in hearing the man's response._

_"I just don't like mercenaries," Jacob responded and actually lifted his nose in the air. "An assassin is just a precise mercenary." The assumption that he was no better than a mercenary made him angry, but he hid it under a shroud of neutrality just like his master had taught him. He had no love for mercenaries either. They were like all soldiers; they did not use their brains or bodies to their full potential. A six-week crash course (if they were lucky) in combat had nothing on his six years._

_"An assassin is a weapon," he clarified refusing to allow his anger to come out in his words. The man wasn't worthy enough to see his anger. "A weapon does not choose to kill; the one who welds it does." The man didn't seem at all impressed or contrite over his actions or words. It seemed Thane's reasoning meant little to the soldier in front of him. It was a pity; he could teach him so much._

_"Where shall I put my things?" When he turned his gaze back to Shepard, she had that some far off look on her face; she was lost in her thoughts. This time though, he was under the impression, based her in unwavering gaze, that her thoughts somehow involved him. Perhaps his little speech had affected her opinion of him and his profession. _Or_, he thought, _she finds me attractive._ This thought bothered him even more than the man's inference that he was the same as a mercenary. He had no intentions of a relationship, even less with a Human woman, and even less with her. He sincerely hoped that he was wrong about the purpose of her stare. "I would prefer someplace dry if anything is available."_

_He watched Shepard blink twice in rapid succession and then frown. He didn't know what he could have said that caused her displeasure. Perhaps her translator had translated his words into something Human's found offensive. He would need to research Human culture since he would now be serving on one of their ships; if at all possible, he didn't want to give anyone on the crew any reason to especially dislike him for anything other than his profession. That he could tolerate._

_A blue hologram popped into existence in front of him. It appeared to be a sphere on a pedestal of sorts; it was… interesting. "The area near the life support plant on the crew deck tends to be slightly more arid than the rest of the ship," the hologram said with a light blue area moving much like a mouth. The voice had inflection, and if it were a VI, he would have had to address it to get information. But here it was offering information without being directly addressed. _

_"Ah. An AI?" he mused out load by accident. He was so shocked and surprised that it had come out of his mouth involuntarily, but he wondered how to address this computer-based intelligence. It had intelligence so he decided that he would treat it like any other person; he would treat it with respect. "My thanks." He bowed to the Commander and Jacob, but only the Commander bowed her head back in goodbye, and exited the room. At least working for her would be interesting._

He looked back to her as the memory stopped. She seemed as if she was waiting for him to say something. "Mr. Taylor's prejudice is not uncommon," he told her, but she just raised an eyebrow as if she wanted to know more. She was such a curious person; it annoyed him to no end. Were all Humans this inquisitive? If so, he had no problem understanding why other races didn't like them. "I have encountered others of his opinion, and though I disagree with it, it will not effect the mission."

Instead of looking reassured, she frowned. "I'm just about tired of that comment," she said uncrossing her arms and heading towards the door. "Why is it that every time I ask anyone anything all y'all can say is that it won't affect the mission? What if I truly care about what affects you?" She seemed quite venomous about this, but he hadn't joined her because he respected her. He still wasn't convinced that she was even a decent person. Even before her 'death' and the Council revealing that she was unstable, her history wasn't the purest.

"I am here to fight for you, Commander," he said leveling her with a gaze he knew to intimidate most Humans. "That is all." It didn't seem to work on her, of course; her hubris was too high to be intimidated by most people. Besides, he had the distinct impression that she thought herself above everyone, especially those she was recruiting. He was no one's blind lackey. He would follow her orders only so far as they accomplished his own goals, to reach the sea and Irikah.

She just stared at him in a dead pan. He hadn't made her angry, which was good if the rumors of her temper were true, but he got the instinct impression that she wasn't thrilled by his attitude. He didn't really care, but it was something that he would have to keep his eyes on. "Fine," she said simply pushing herself off of the wall and walking towards the door. "I'm going to recruit an Asari Justicar named Samara tomorrow, and since you seem to know a bit about Illium, I was wondering if you would come along." She still didn't look happy, but she was back to business. Furthermore, she had stopped asking questions; thank Arashu.

"I have accepted a contract to work with you," he answered neutrally. If she was anything like the soldiers he had fought against, he would find her style of fighting truly vexatious, but he had already accepted the contract. He would have to learn to deal with it. He wondered who else she intended to bring along, and he hoped that it was the thief. At least, she would be stealthily enough to keep up with him. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the Turian, or worse, the Krogan, the mercenary, or the convict. "If you want me on this mission, then I will come."

She sighed in frustration. He didn't understand why she seemed so frustrated; he had agreed to come with her. "Look, Thane," she said turning towards him on her way out the door, "I understand how the whole 'assassin is just a weapon' thing would have worked well with your previous employers, but if I just wanted a weapon, I would have bought Garrus a new sniper rifle. I recruited you because I want a person to fire a gun, not a gun itself. You understand?"

She said that she wanted a person to fight with her and not a weapon, but he didn't understand what she meant by that. If she wanted to be his friend, she would need to get use to the disappointment that he wasn't offering it. He trusted her to give him an honorable way to the sea and Irikah; other than that, he didn't trust her at all and he certainly didn't respect her meager abilities. He decided that saying any of this was bad form though so he said, "I understand, Commander."

She sighed again. "I don't think you do, but you will." With that, she finally left so he could go back to his meditations. It only took him a few moments of memories before he decided that he had never worked so closely with someone that he disliked so much. Perhaps he should never have accepted her offer; working with her was going to take every bit of patience and tolerance he had. Too bad it was too late to change his mind now.


End file.
